Ox's Strongman Return!

ozzy


Interesting history Ox. Glad to hear that you are back into things though. It's a great feeling when you have been out for a while and are then able to get back to doing what you love. Will be watching your journal and i need to go and have a read up on DC training as i am not entirely sure wtf you are talking about

HA HA yeah sorry about that. Anything you want to know just ask mate.
 
Cheers for stopping by.

WORKOUT A2

Had one of those workouts today, everything felt heavy and bloody hard work for some reason. Haven't had much rest recently thanks to my 5 month old daughter which is a contributing factor I think!

As a side note for those not in the know my rest pause sets are done by going to failure say around 8 reps, 15 deep breaths, again to failure 3-5 reps, another 15 deep breaths and to failure again 1-3 reps. After each bodypart I perform a static contraction till i can't hold it with a slow neg then do my extreme weighted stretch fo 60-90 seconds. If anything this end bit is the most painful and hard to endure but oh so worth it!

40 degree Incline Bench to upper chest: 90kg 9 + 3RP + 1 R/P
This equals my best from end of last blast and is ok but was hoping for better now more carbs in diet. My pressing strength has never returned to what it once was but when dieting which I have been for a long time my pressing strength is always first to go.

Seated Dead Stop Barbell Press: 60kg 8 +3R/P + 2 R/P
Again a disappointing lift really used to do seated presses for 80kg -90kg but again due to dieting, hoping as this new diet kicks in I can really start adding to these. Starting from a dead stop and resting down on each rep really takes it out of my delts and is much harder than regular seated presses.

Dips Bodyweight(15stone 3lbs): 15+6R/P +5R/P
These were done on my loadable farmers walks lay across my power rack so effectively a fat bar that has a little sideways movement, I have dipping bars but like the feel of these more. Not done dips for years as I have 'clicking' chest and they did seem to worsen it but I'm doing these very upright to target triceps and chest feels ok.

Close Grip Pulldowns: 85kg 9+4R/P+3R/P PB
Pleased with this feel real good, nice big stretch and good contraction to upper chest, should increase nicely this blast with luck.

T Bar Row 70kg x 6ss    60kg x 12ss
Not done these for about 5 years so was not sure about weight, took a while to find the groove. Should increase ok but don't feel them that well. Time will tell.

Finished with a load of assorted ab work, leg raises, rope crunches, side bends, plate twists, no reps recorded just worked it hard.

Well not a great workout but the two previous this week were fantastic. I'll be doing some fasted cardio over the weekend otherwise resting up and try to get rid of some of this soreness, maybe persuade the wife to give me a bloody good massage - i need it!! Got a nice treat meal to look forward to tomorrow with the wife, looking forward to a nice steak cassaole!

Tough week next week, two quad workouts to endure I mean look forward to on Monday and Friday! Those widowmakers always take me to the point of near vomiting!

Happy weekend all!

Was hoping for a lie in this morning, my little princess put pay to that!

On the plus side even though w/out was off yesterday i'm nicely sore and had a big bacon sandwich for beakfast. Skipped fasted cardio this morning as i am whacked. I'll be taking my dog Winston for a long walk later!

Weight holding steady at 15 stone 4lbs after a low of 15 stone bang on before christmas though funnily enough i look leaner now! Looks like things are working.

45 mins fasted cardio this morning.

Up 2lbs from yesterday due to treat meal. Back on it today, soreness starting to go, hoping for a good session tomorrow.

B2

Awesome session today though thought it wouldn't be - had bad headache and feeling rough since last night but went at it and went great.

E-Z drag curls 53kg 12 + 8 +5 not done these for a long time and felt sweet, can really see alot of weight going on these this blast.

Pinwheel curls set 1 20kg x 12 set 2 20kg 9 + 2 cheats. Straight sets.

Barbell calf raise done DC style. 95kg x 17. The 15 second stretch on each rep is pure pain, so wanted to quit by rep10 but pushed through. 1 set to calves feeling like blunt stumps!

Sumo Romanians 165kg 7 + 3 + 3 PB not done these for a few years and completely trashed my hams. A tough but brilliant exercise. These are not normally rest paused in DC training but i've found it can work well as long as form is kept tight.

Front Squat 110kg x 11 PB Only done these in my last blast when i got a sting ray to do them with, i just couldn't get the form down with a oly grip and felt injury was a risk so never bothered, Coming on well now though and pleased how these felt. Going to 115kg next time.

WIDOWMAKER!!!
Parallel Squat 125kg x 20. I tried for another but exhausted and collapsed on to safeties! Romanians really took it out of me. Was due to do abs following but completely wasted I will do them tomorrow after fasted cardio.]

AWESOME SESSION!

Ox


WIDOWMAKER!!!
Parallel Squat 125kg x 20. I tried for another but exhausted and collapsed on to safeties! Romanians really took it out of me. Was due to do abs following but completely wasted I will do them tomorrow after fasted cardio.]

AWESOME SESSION!

Punishment

jw390898

Ox


WIDOWMAKER!!!
Parallel Squat 125kg x 20. I tried for another but exhausted and collapsed on to safeties! Romanians really took it out of me. Was due to do abs following but completely wasted I will do them tomorrow after fasted cardio.]

AWESOME SESSION!

Punishment

Your telling me! I love what widows do but jeez they are tough to endure!!

good lifting Ox...pretty sure that your strength will begin to fly up once the body adjusts to the increased amount of carbs you are putting in...RDLs are a beast of an exercise but i have never done them sumo style...might ahve to give that a crack

ozzy


good lifting Ox...pretty sure that your strength will begin to fly up once the body adjusts to the increased amount of carbs you are putting in...RDLs are a beast of an exercise but i have never done them sumo style...might ahve to give that a crack

Yeah thats what i'm hoping for in this blast mate. Been dieting for so long it seems really strange to be taking in so many more carbs, kicking in nicely now i think. Doing the romanians sumo style REALLY hits my hams very hard. I experimented with them in my cruise over xmas and new they would be good for this blast, i'd never done them this way before but i've had great results from wide stance good mornings so thought i'd try it - very glad i did! Got up quick to my daughter crying this morning and nearly collapsed! My hams are utterly trashed! My calves are in a world of pain too, i'm getting more gains from doing 1 set in DC style than i have from years of higher volume training. Suprisingly enough despite pushing my quads to the point of collapse i have no soreness at all in them! Same with biceps, still soreness is no measure of a workout, as long as my weights and/or reps go up throughout blast i'm happy. Weight has inreased to 15 stone 7lbs and waist remains constant so something is working! Hopefully when I begin my contest prep in 8 weeks time i'll have somewhere to progress to. Before xmas my carbs and overall calorie intake was so low and cardio high I was struggling to lose any more. I'll be happy ending this blast at around 16 stone max then hitting my prep down to I reckon around 14 stone, maybe a little more. I'll know more when I get some pics put up and get some good advice from the competitors on here.
 
On a side not I did 20 mins HIIT this morning, felt good. Keeping cardio low for the time being so I can up it plenty during prep, using it just to keep my gains as lean as possible. I find the HIIT helps me with having the lungs to make it through the widowmakers! Though i will be limiting the number of these I do a week.
 
Already looking forward to tommorows workout, the special chest exercise I've got planned felt amazing during practice in cruise and feel it will really help my inner/upper chest. I'm loving the new exercises I've got in this blast!

Monster session there! I'm confused though, why did you do a working set of front squats before your widowmaker? I thought the widowmaker was just all you were supposed to do for your 'quads' lift on lower day? Or am I mistaken?

No mate, you do a standard straight set in your chosen rep range, usually 6-9 but it's personal preference that can change from blast to blast then you finish the entire session with a widowmaker 0f 15-25 reps. It's based like this because it's figured after your widow you have nothing left in the tank, which I was successful with last night!! You can do your widow with the same exercise you have done your straight set with as I do with 2 of my workouts or you can pick another exercise as I did yesterday. My reasoning for this is the front squat is tough to maintain focus and form and primarily get enough oxygen down you to perform a do or die set of 20 or so reps! Few DC trainers use them as widows.

As you may know widows are only done for quads in the two way split. In the 3 way split, which is only for extremely advanced trainers, widows can be employed for weak bodyparts. I can't imagine there are many worse than quad widows mind! Maybe deads, that would hurt!

the thought of deadlift widowmakers is making my back hurt!

Yeah, i know what you mean mate. I was just thinking how bad those sumo romanians would hurt!!

A3

Another great workout nailed!

Incline 'Smith' Press 60kg x 21 60kg x 16
Now as stated before these are not real smith presses. I do these pushing up the front of my power rack. The weight is tiny but is not the point of this exercise. This is a DC exercise really meant as an additional movement in the 3 way split but i've put it in as a main exercise on the two way because of the results it can give to the inner/upper chest. The movement is slow, deliberate witha HUGE stretch at the bottom  and a big squeeeeeze at the top, focusing on the target area. The reps are high to minimise injury risk with such a wide grip and big stretch. My chest is shaking severely at the minute right in the area I want it too. I'm thinking this could really be a productive exercise.

Wide Grip Seated Overhead Pin Press 75kg - 9 + 4 + 3 PB
Not done these for years and pleased with weight achieved as my pressing strength has been down since weight loss. The static contraction at the end caused a huge burn and cramp! Lift is from just above eye level to lockout. This exercise wasted me!

E-Z floor skulls 48kg 10+4+2
Done with a dead stop on the floor, tough exercise and can't use as much weight as skull to well the skull! However a good stretch and pump. The heavy weighted stretch following was PAINFULL!

Wide Grip Pulldown 80kg 9 + 3 + 3 PB
Pleased with this, been progressing well since last blast, making sure I still get a good stretch and contraction on each rep. Had a huge cramp in these following the static contraction.

Pendlay Row 95kg x 7 75kg x 9
I'm not sure about these. I know these are meant to be a strict version of a barbell press with back parallel to the floor with no hip movement but i have seen videos with people doing a looser form version of it to go heavier. I normally rep 115 kg for barbell rows and to be honest can feel them better. Anyways i'll perservere with this, if anyone knows of any advice for this exercise let me know!

Followed this up with some ab and oblique work, big pump.

Fantastic workout, despite tons of soreness still from monday. Fasted cardio on the books for the morning.

ozzy


the thought of deadlift widowmakers is making my back hurt!

x2... LOL

fascinating, inspiring read Ox!

Trainind looks tough and great to hear you enjoying sessions!
I will need to play with a modified version of the DC training methods I think.
Are we goin to get progress piccies soon?

Hello mate,

good read.

I'll be asking questions as they come, just a quickie... what sort of warm up are you doing for each exercise? When i read on one of the other blogs it said to start at 12,10,8,6,4, then rest and then go in hard.

I gave DC training ago on Monday, don't think i'm advanced enough though and was going to see if there was an alternative or something but  my lifts/form are good and weights aren't too bad (maybe not as good as yours tho! ). It's tuff as I want to give it ago but don't want to do any damage.

Cheers mate

Rach - cheers for looking in on my journal, i appreciate it.  Yeah i'm really enjoying my sessions in this new blast with more cals in my body i feel so much stronger!! I'll get pics sorted soon as poss, just not had the time!

Aks - all i can say mate is read up on intensemuscle for details, there is a ton and i do mean a ton of info to read and understand! If you've been training for absolute minimum of 3 years you may benefit from dc but the longer you hace trained for the better really. DC is thought of as the last resort really for people who have trained for years and tried many programs with success. This is not to say you won't benefit from it just another routine like 5x5 may give you better gains. DC can give incredible results for the right person at the right stage in their training career and i personally have found it to be the single best routine - for me. I've always enjoyed low volume training more anyway and i've trained for many years in many different ways and felt i got all i could get from them hence seemed a suitable candidate for dc, though i was sceptical at the start i soon realised it was for me.

Throw me a little background info about yourself - age, lifts, time training, goals etc and i'll give you my opinion if you like? you can then read up and decide for yourself mate.

As for warm ups i don't go overboard, smaller exercises get 2 warm up sets and big ones 3-4, i go bt how i'm feeling, if i feel i need another warm up set i do one. I usually keep warm ups from 10 down to 3 again depending on how i'm feeling, as long as i'm warmed up and feeling ok i'm good to go.

Let me know a few details if you like mate and i'll help you out.

Cheers mate,

Age: 22
lifts: All the big compounds
Time training: Just after my 19th birthday I did the London Marathon and then i started training. I did quite a few iso's for a while then moved onto full body, tony stark's 4 day split, push/pull/legs, hst, full body, OVT, full body and now i'm just looking for something different.

Goals: Lean mass and strength.

I've been having a read here and there, this week's been quite hectic with work and what not so i've been pretty tired etc.

Part of the reason I want to change is for extra motivation, I also like trying different routines and it's something different. Obviously from the above, with my lack of training experience most people would say i'm not suited for it but what difference would it make to someone who has been lifting for 10 years to someone of 2/3? Even with the right form/mental attitude?

Yeah i know where your coming from mate, the general thought is that if you have only been training a few years and are not that experienced you may not be able to understand the intensity you need to put in to the set, (i'm not saying you here, this is general), it's thought that other routines offer more to these trainers than DC but at the end of the day it's down to you if you want to do it or not.

DC is often referred to as the 'last resort' and many tainers who get the most out of it have 10+ years of experience andmost never go back fully to any other form of training.

You've been training three years so thats long enough to warrant starting up DC i'd say.
You've done some good routines and concentrated on good exercises so thats a plus.

If you post on Intensemuscle they will say you are too young and not experienced enough but i'd say if you do ALOT of reading on there and understand it and follow EVERYTHING to the letter this could work for you.

If you'd like mate do some research, work out your exercises, remember you need 3 for each for each blast - all big exercises with plenty of scope to add weight, then either PM me or post in my journal what you fancy doing. I'll tell you if it looks ok and give you a few other pointers or clarify some stuff you read on IM you may not understand mate.

End of the day it's my opinion that if YOU think your ready, commit to it, DO NOT add or take anything away, don't switch routines and give DC a good 2-3 blasts that last anywhere between 8-12 weeks each with 7-14 day cruises in between. Bust your god dam ass on it and get the diet side right, carb cut offs, tons of green tea, fasted SSCV etc and you just may make the best gains of your life.

Let me know mate, post up here and i'll do what I can!
Be warned it hurts like hell!! My hamstrings are still so sore from monday and they're up again tommorow!! The stretches are horrific but fantastic!!

Let me know mate.